I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 29-31.

    Today’s passage begins with a continuation of unconnected proverbs. Then the Book of Proverbs ends with three sets of sayings, “The Sayings of Agur”, “The Sayings of King Lemuel”, and an ode to a virtuous wife. The first part ends with, “The righteous despise the unjust; the wicked despise the godly.” This sums up a point which is made by many of the proverbs throughout the book. You can judge a person by the people they despise. We often judge people by whom they admire, but the problem with that is that they may admire them for characteristics we do not see. However, the wicked universally despise the godly because they feel condemned by their good behavior, while the righteous despise those who treat others unjustly.

    As with all of the other portions of this book, there are multiple pieces of good advice contained within “The Sayings of Agur”. I want to focus on the two requests he makes of God. First, he asks God help him never tell a lie. We should all request this of God. More importantly, we need to recognize that we can only be truthful if God aids us in doing so. Further, we can only avoid sinning if God’s Spirit works within us to accomplish it. We should continuously ask God to keep us from sinning because it is only through the action of His Spirit that we will be able to do so. Second, he asks God to give him only enough wealth to satisfy his needs and perhaps a bit more. Great wealth may cause us to think that we do not need God. Poverty may cause us to sin in order to supply our needs.

    The “Sayings of King Lemuel” finish out the Book of Proverbs. There are two major themes in these sayings. The writer warns those who have authority to drink alcohol only in moderation. Alcohol in large quantity is only a good idea to ease the pain of those who suffer, whether the suffering is physical or otherwise. If those in authority drink alcohol in quantity, they may fail to fairly enforce the laws and may deprive the oppressed of their rights. The writer’s thoughts go on from this to emphasize the importance of looking out for the rights of those who cannot defend themselves.